This year’s SXSW Festival just came to a close and just like every year in the festival’s history before 2014, hoards of people flocked to the capital city of Texas to see a plethora of bands play at numerous venues. As always, there were a great number of showcased artists featured over the course of the festival, one of which was Austin’s very own Megafauna. If you were able to attend SXSW this year, hopefully you were able to check them out. Megafauna are a three piece band consisting of singer/guitarist Dani Neff (who was voted Austin’s Electric Guitarist of the Year in 2012 by The Austin Chronicle), Drummer Zack Humphrey and Bassist Greg Yancey, who is the most recent addition. The trio’s sound definitely falls into the experimental/prog-rock/grunge territory. Megafauna are about to drop their sophomore record, Maximalist on April 15th and judging by the album’s first single, this is going to be a record to look forward to. “Haunted Factory” is a a non-stop, un-relenting, progged-out, 3 minute riff fest with Neff’s delicate yet confident vocals.
I was able to get in touch with the band to ask them a few questions in regards to their new album Maximalist, their perspective on SXSW as Austin locals, and I even asked Dani about her former career as a lawyer.
I just got to hear your new track “Haunted Factory”, It is a pretty stellar track and the first look into Maximalist, is this single a good indicator of what the LP will sound like? Or will it touch on a bunch of different notes?
Dani: It is. “Haunted” captures the middle of the spectrum — some songs are weirder, proggier and a couple are more straight-ahead.
Zack: For sure, it’s a good representation. There’s definitely more guitar soloing and freaking out on other songs though.
It seems as though the music in the songs on your last album Surreal Estate tended to revolve around the vocals and in “Haunted Factory” they tend to meet each other in a different way. Has your song writing process changed at all?
Dani: It has changed. Surreal Estate did the quiet/loud thing a lot, which showcases the vocals, and for this album we wanted to push everything to its extreme… guitar, drums, bass, voice (in another sense Maximalist — having it all without compromising).
Is there any overall concept for Maximalist or did you write the songs on more of an individual basis?
Dani: The songs were written individually, but they all point toward a central theme of finding yourself. We live in a world overloaded with information, choices, experiences, and sensations. A Maximalist is someone who can find a path through all that and even thrive and be happy in it.
How did you guys meet?
Dani: Zack and I met in North Carolina and knew instantly that our lives would be forever linked.
Greg: My other band Opposite Day has played many a gig with Megafauna prior to my joining. I was already a fan and familiar with the tunes when Dani asked me to join the week before SXSW in 2012.
The band’s name Megafauna means “Large Animal”. What about the name spoke to you?
Zack: Massive animal. Massive sound.
Dani: Pre-civilization rawness. Also, the A at the end makes it sound feminine.
Dani, is it true you practiced law before Megafauna? If so, is it something you see yourself doing again?
Dani: It’s true! Yes, possibly. I would probably practice social justice law — in particular, women’s rights issues and legalization of marijuana.
I also read that you practice reiki and are into psychonautics, which to my understanding is exploring altered states of consciousness and existence. How would you say this has affected the way in which you write music?
Dani: Exploring altered states through meditation and other means has kept me sane enough to be a person who can write music. 🙂 It helps me get into the creative flow and access a very inexplicable, raw place that perhaps I wouldn’t have gotten to otherwise. It opens me up to deeper ideas by peeling layers off, revealing topics that seemed too scary before or topics that I didn’t think applied to me.
You have mentioned in interviews that you guys have definitely taken advantage of the website Couchsurfing.com to find places to stay while on tour. What are the weirdest and most pleasant experiences you encountered?
Dani: The weirdest experience was piling onto the floor of a Philosopher’s apartment in Portland.
Zack: He was awesome and gave us magic butter. The most pleasant was staying with this amazing family in El Paso and getting to jam on the front porch and eat vegan chocolate chip pancakes.
What could someone expect from a “typical” Megafauna show?
Dani: Lots of dynamics, rawness, loud as fuckness, Zack’s crazy drumming expressions, excessive head banging.
Zack: Weird time signatures. The Yancey stomp. Mind- bending guitar solos.
Greg: Basically the climax of Raiders of The Lost Ark.
Being from Austin you have very rich pool of awesome venues to play in. Do you have any favorites?
Dani: Yes! Mohawk.
Zack: Mohawk. Spider House Ballroom.
Greg: Red 7.
As an Austin Native and Musician, What are your overall thoughts on SXSW?
Dani: Unofficial is where it’s at.
Zack: It’s a wild wildebeast that can’t be tamed.
Greg: Not exactly a native, but I’ve been here for 14 years. Long enough that now I’m one of those grumbling old timers yelling at drunk kids for dropping their plastic party cups in my lawn. SXSW creates a tilt-shift lens version of Austin for visitors. A warped, unreal version (with lots of fuzzy edges) of a real city. Its fairly exciting, but I’m always happy when it’s over. I just wish the kids would take their cups with them.
Where would you recommend as your absolute favorite place to grab a bite to eat while in Austin?
Dani: El Chilito has incredible breakfast tacos. Casa de Luz or Beets for insanely healthy vegetarian food.
Zack: Salvation Pizza. Best pizza in town. Chekos. Cheap as hell Mexican restaurant on Koenig. Great chips and salsa.
http://megafaunamusic.bandcamp.com/